How NOT to Play Videogames (obsessive playing)

This is a problem many people have, it may even be what may be considered the downside (if one must insist on finding one) of videogames and the reason why there are South Korean children able to beat you and a team of five by themselves.

With my incredibly dysfunctional lifestyle, I have found that based on the kind of game, I have different kinds of difficulties related to obsessive playing. Each seems to have its own personal way of pulling me into its well-architected trap and I ALWAYS fall for it.

Today I am going to go through some of these genres! If you missed my last post on Videogames, be sure to check it out from the “How NOT to” selection!

1-Platforms. This one is way too easy, the structure of the games themselves is made to keep you frustratingly and obsessively continuing (reason why once upon a time an infinite amount of nickels was spent in arcades). This is the obvious case with really hard platforms, such as “Braid” which other than being an amazing game is also what made me want to smash my keyboard.

In my specific case, the problem is perfectionism. I must get every single coin, all achievements, all hidden levels (etc.). Needless to say I have infinite hours on platforms of all kinds. This is usually with easier platforms such as the Mario games and I BLAME YOU NINTENDO! Their family fun games and incredible capacity to make you love anything with their name on it has stolen way too many hours of my life!

2-FPSs (First Person Shooters). I can sum up this part of my life in one sentence (which also happens to have chronological value): “Protect the halo as I answer to my call of duty and to overwatch it’s transfer.”.

Jokes aside, these have been true and proper obsessions for me. Hours and hours spent mastering my main [character], forming teams (etc.). Sleepless nights spent training, ranking, trying to achieve a specific formation. And the problem is always one: win streaks. I NEVER want to interrupt playing on a win streak, things are going too well. In these cases I just tell myself I’ll stop as soon as I lose, but when that happens… who wants to stop on a loss? It’s depressing. So I keep playing until I’m on another win streak and the cycle goes on and on. Definitely obsessive.

3-RPGs (Role-Playing Games). Here the problem is definitely grinding. I’m the kind of person who will spend 10 hours grinding right after the skipped tutorial, even before I get a chance to actually start playing.

When open-world, don’t even get me started. Sometimes I stumble across the story accidentally after hours just grinding and wandering. I can’t stop, it’s stronger than me. I can’t shut down the console when I’m only a few XP from the next level or I’m just about to unlock a new skill or part of the map. It’s impossible!

4-Graphic adventures and art games. These games are especially sneaky. They are either too beautiful or too immersive. For example, you can’t interrupt “Life is Strange”, it’s the same thing that happens to me with novels (with the added bonus that I get to pretend that my choices matter, thank you “Heavy Rain”). I get so hooked I can’t put them down, I must play through as quickly as possible… play through ALL the scenarios as quickly as possible. Another perfect example of this is “The Stanley Parable” which I spent way too much time on (and if you haven’t played it I absolutely recommend).

With art games it’s slightly different: they’re too incredibly pretty, innovative or interesting to put down, usually the first. I got lost drastically at the beginning of “The Unfinished Swan” and spent two hours before going forward. Nonetheless I was too entranced by the beauty of splashing black paint to reveal what was hidden by the white that I didn’t even consider checking a guide or taking a break. Another perfect example is “Journey”, I was breath-taken by the scenery to the point where I had to play the whole series immediately.

5-Party Games. Two words: “Let’s sing”. And I’m not ashamed, every single song on that game will be diamond and I’m getting there (I’m coming for you Blondie, you’re next!).

I hope you enjoyed the post. There’s definitely some genres missing so I’ll probably add more on this topic later on! Yours sincerely,

Dysfunctional Girl